God and Metaphors
Column by Brian McLaren on December, 16 2021In my travels and speaking, people often ask me “what do we do with ______?” questions. The blank is most often filled in with a doctrinal issue like hell, creationism, original sin, inerrancy, atonement theory, and the like.
Sankofa
Column by Toni Reynolds on December, 9 2021The United Nations, in partnership with the West African country of Ghana, marked 2019 as “The Year of Return”. It was a year to honor the 400-year stint of resilience of the people of the African Diaspora. 400 years since the first stolen Africans arrived in the Americas as part of the system of chattel slavery.
Christianity: The Plain English Version
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on December, 2 2021Like progressive Christians today, Simone Weil knew God as love. Not just as warm, fuzzy, romantic, or familial love. Rather as agape love, which embraces all beings and things – and all experiences, including suffering. Communion with the divine was, for her, manifested in attention
Celebrating Thanksgiving’s 400th anniversary of revisionist history
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on November, 25 2021In the spirit of our connected struggles for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, this Thanksgiving, we should not solely focus on the story of Plymouth Rock. Instead, as Americans, we should focus on creating this nation as a solid rock that rests on a multicultural and democratic foundation.
Catching Flight on the Wings of Thought: The Legacy of Bishop John Shelby Spong
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on November, 18 2021The number of people whose death would be felt around the world is limited. Bishop John Shelby Spong was surely one of them. It is impossible to determine how far or wide his influence has and will continue to be.
“White Too Long” – A Conversation with Robert P. Jones, Part 2
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on November, 11 2021The following is Part 2 of a series drawn from an interview with Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity on September 9th, 2021. It has been edited for length and focus.
Walking In The Good Way
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on November, 4 2021The most ancient path I know is the ecological one. Creation is an intricate living system that honors life, death and rebirth within Earth’s natural cycles; where reciprocity is honorable, and all life is sacred. We humans, who happen to be mammals (but also a bit of a virus), have trouble remembering the path of Creation.
Loving The Earth Is Essential
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on October, 28 2021Our planet is not well. That’s an understatement. The Earth is in a state of crisis. Human aggravated global warming/Climate Change is a real and present danger.
He Calls us to the Task of Loving
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on October, 21 2021Jack experienced God as the source of all life. There is no duality within God, there is only sacred oneness. And so he reminded us that if God is the source of all life, then the best way to worship God is to live fully.
Religious Exemptions?
Column by Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers on October, 14 2021Like so many of the injustices and inequities revealed by the pandemic, evangelical Christianity’s deepest values have also been unmasked. Now that more and more businesses are requiring those who return to work to get the vaccine, people who have already decided not to get the shot, often by feasting on misinformation, have also decided that their “personal freedom” trumps any biblical injunction to be our sister and brother’s keeper. But that is not all.
The “Emerging” Theology this Straight Minister Loves
Column by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin on October, 7 2021As I read the first Creation story and put it in conversation with the big bang theory, there is a message that comes through loudly: Creation comes from unbinding everything in order to give it meaning. I would go as far as to say the best, most remarkable creations always do just that, unbind things, breakdown barriers and boundaries.
“White Too Long” – A Conversation with Robert P Jones, Part 1
Column by Rev. David M. Felten on September, 30 2021The following is Part 1 of a series drawn from an interview with Robert P. Jones, author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity on September 9th, 2021. It has been edited for length and focus.
Water~Spirit~Activism
Column by Skylar Wilson on September, 23 2021Earth is 71% water. When we humans are born, we are made of approximately this same percentage. We are made in Earth’s image; created within Earth’s watery imagination. Born into life through a series of cosmic processes of explosive passion and grace.
Remembering Bishop John Shelby Spong
Column by Bishop John Shelby Spong on September, 16 2021Bishop John Shelby Spong
June 16, 1931 – September 12, 2021
Jennifer Hereth, an Artist-Prophet For Our Times
Column by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox on September, 9 2021Today I ask a question: “Is it possible to understand 21st century spirituality without looking at today’s art?” And if so, to whom should we turn? I highly recommend turning to artist/activist Jennifer Hereth who, during the recent pandemic enclosure time, looked back at her life’s work as an artist and teacher of art and activist who has visited Syrian refugee centers and Sri Lanka war-torn villages as well as the rugged streets of Chicago where she lives to gift us with a spiritual testament for our times.
Mystery: Beyond Understanding
Column by Dr. Carl Krieg on September, 2 2021Sometimes, the deeper we dig, the more profoundly aware we become that at the center of reality are dimensions that defy linear and logical analysis. Whether it be in the realm of science, quantum or cosmic, or in the realm of metaphysics, oftentimes mystery is the ultimate order of the day. Leaving science to the scientists, I would like to here consider two theological questions that defy logical analysis, one aspect of the nature of God and one aspect of the nature of human beings.
It is Time for Compassionate Nuanced Conversations, Part 1
Column by Rev. Deshna Charron Shine on August, 26 2021In reality, the world around us is an infinite rainbow of nuance, complexity, and brilliance! Unlike other animals and living creatures, people are as unique as there are infinite shades of colors in this world. More so, even. We come with these spirits full of experiences and lessons, we come with unique fingerprints, DNA, personalities, likes and dislikes, smells and textures, skin tones, sexualities, body types, talents, and ideas.
Progressive Christianity and the Preferential Option for the Young
Column by Brian McLaren on August, 19 2021If you believe, as I do, that the world needs a vital alternative to regressive and right-wing Christianity, then you should join me in raising the alarm — and calling for radical action among forward-leaning Christians.
Don’t Pay Them No Mind
Column by Toni Reynolds on August, 12 2021It’s been an interesting experiment to consider my attention as a form of currency. Though I’m not exactly thrilled with the capitalist framework, I’ve benefited from considering my focus as a resource, and my general headspace as a bank of its own. How I “spend” from it matters not just for myself, but also for the people around me.
When Beliefs Kill Cultures
Column by Rev. Matthew Syrdal on August, 5 2021Beliefs are a funny thing to try to pin down. If we are honest, they are slippery and largely unconscious. When enough of them get mixed together in a large enough group they build up force like a gathering storm. It makes you wonder, are any beliefs actually rational?
The topic the Black Church dares not speak of honestly
Column by Rev. Irene Monroe on July, 29 2021I was recently asked: “What should be the mandate for today’s Black Churches? ” I believe one of the mandates for today’s Black Churches is to address its ongoing struggle with the spectrum of human sexuality.
If God is Love…
Column by Rev. Jim Burklo on July, 22 2021One of the many ways to read the Bible is to view it as God’s autobiography.
When Religion Goes Rogue
Column by Rev. Gretta Vosper on July, 15 2021In Canada, it wasn’t just the Roman Catholic Church involved. Both the United Church of Canada and the Anglican Church also participated in the residential schools program which, for decades, forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families for the purpose of educating them into the dominant white, Christian culture of the country.
The Mother Religion
Column by Rev. Lauren Van Ham on July, 8 2021In Her 4.5 billion years of being a planet, Earth has known great drama illustrated in superfluous gestures of creativity and supreme acts of destruction. If we used only this as our backdrop for religion what would our religion consist of?
Paul: Friend or Foe?
Column by Rev. Roger Wolsey on July, 1 2021I think that that the apostle Paul has gotten an undeserved bum rap by many progressives and that it is good, right, and well for Christian pastors to preach from the letters of the apostle Paul.